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Archive for June, 2012

You’ve probably heard the story of Barbara Espinosa, who ran a radio talk show with the former Arizona GOP chairman Randy Pullen called “Hair on Fire”, who recently gained international attention when she called U.S. President Barack Obama a “monkey”. Repeatedly. She then followed that with “I voted for the white guy.”

Fortunately, at 1:58 in this recording, the other caller completely rejects Espinosa’s comments. And that ends that.

I contacted the radio station where the broadcast was believed to have taken place. They report that the host in question “does not host a show anymore” at that station, and that the show in question may have happened elsewhere since she has not worked there in a month. However, based on the filename of the recording, which has the suffix “030112.mp3” and would appear to be a date, it would seem that this is a recording of a show that aired months ago, when it would have most likely aired on KFNX.

In their response, the station has clearly moved to distance itself from Espinosa and the controversy:

KFNX no longer has a relationship with Ms. Espinosa, and again certainly does not support her comments. If those comments were made on KFNX, we would have terminated our relationship with her. We certainly apologize for our former relationship with Ms. Espinosa and are deeply sorry she said offensives things.

Here is the full text from KFNX:

Statement from KFNX 1100 RE: Barbara Espinosa (6/18/2012)

KFNX received your email. Barbara Espinosa does not host a show anymore on KFNX 1100, so the information is dated. She has not aired a show at KFNX for nearly a month. She currently hosts an internet show on Blogtalk radio to the best of our knowledge.

KFNX management, staff and sponsors do not endorse or agree with her viewpoints. Ms. Espinoza (like all KFNX Hosts) does have the First Amendment Right to say what she believes, but KFNX Host Contracts includes a clause which prohibits on-air slander of people.

KFNX no longer has a relationship with Ms. Espinosa, and again certainly does not support her comments. If those comments were made on KFNX, we would have terminated our relationship with her. We certainly apologize for our former relationship with Ms. Espinosa and are deeply sorry she said offensives things.

We do not know when the comments were made, but it is possible they were made in the past while airing on KFNX, or maybe could have been said on her current internet show on Blogtalk. We also do not know who posted the YouTube video. It is an edited video (and not dated), so it is unclear what context the improper comments were made.

If you want more information, we suggest you contact Ms. Espinosa (or Blogtalk) directly regarding this.